Martinsburg herald. [volume] (Martinsburg, W. Va.) 1881-1920, 1887-09-17
SHAKESPEARE OR BACON.

Mr.. lgnatlus DOnelly is publishing
a work on the Shakespeare plays, in
which he will attempt to prove that
they were written by Lord Bacon.
Several Shaksperean students and
scholars have given thei: opinions,
and answered many of the objections
urged against Sbakspeare's author
ship. Men have argued before that
there was no such man as Napoleon.
AS for parallels in literature, there is
a pointed similarity IN much Of our
standard literature. That Shaks-
ed by the fact that Shakespeare Is
scenes, in whatever country located,
are essentially English. He speaks
of daises and pansies in Denmark,
and they do not grow there; he
hears the lark in Italy, where the
lark is not an lnhabitant.
"The action of AS you like it, is
supposed to occur in the forest of
Arden, but does not every scene
glow with the beauty of an English
landscape? Are not the flowers and
the trees such as he viewed in his
own home? In Winters Tale,' the
action of which takes place in Sicily,
the rogue, Antolycus, talks of daffo-
dis, and in Midsummer Nights
Dream in Ancient Greece, Helena
speaks of the time when wheat is
green, when hawthorn buds appear
and when you and | upon flint
primrose beds were wont to ie.'
Where else could you find these con.
ditions than in England | believe
with Ben johnson that Shakespeare
knew little Latin and less Greek,
but | also believe with Milton that
he needs not for his narrow bones
the labor of an age in piled stones
To me Shakespeare did live. He was
illiterate, we are told. So was Isaiah.
He could not wriet well.' Neither
could Horace Greedy. HE was never
out of England His plays show
that his environment blocks him at
every step. His imagination depicts
only what his natural eyes saw. At
least it takes on its line, just as
Paine says that in Paradise Lost ,
Milton made the Almighty talk like
courtier of the reign of King
Charles. Bacon's and Shakspeare's
philosophy vary as much as day
differs from night. Bacon's poetry,
when he attempts it, sounds like
Sternhold and Hopkins metrical
version of the Psalms of David and
puts you to sleep. Shakespeare war.
bles his 'native wood notes wild
and all the world wonders Mr..
Donnelly exhibits very great ignor-
ance when he says that Shakspeare's
plays show no knowledge of STRAIT.
fOrd-on-Avon and the surrounding
country. The play AS YouLike IT.
is full OF very minute knowledge of
the country, and especially the
northern part of Warwickshire,
where Shakespeare spent his youth.
The plays also show that Shaks.
peare's knowledge OF Latin and
Greek was limited, which is IN per.
feet accordance with what Ben John.
son said to him. This is very con-
elusive evidence that no such man
as Lord Bacon, with his extensive
knowledge of Latin and Greek, ever
composed those plays. Passages of
some of the plays are taken verbatim
from Lord North's translations, the
language being merely a yersifica-
tiOn of Lord North's language.
Shakspeare's knowledge has been
moderated rather than overestimat-
ed, for it is known that Shakespeare
did have some knowledge of Latin
and Greek and also Italian. . 1t was
very natural for such a man as Ba.
con or Ben Johnson to consider
Shakspeare's fund of knowledge lin.
tied. Their standard was much
higher than than Of the common
people.